A $40 million overcharging bungle by WA's largest energy retailer was a result of serious governance failures and other businesses may have also fallen foul, according to the state's economic watchdog.

It was revealed yesterday state-owned Synergy has taken $40 million from customers for non-existent bills since 2009.

According to the company's CEO Kurt Baker, on many occasions this occurred because Synergy "allowed customers to continue to pay to their closed account, even in the absence of a bill".

Almost 175,000 customers were affected, with the overcharging ranging from less than a dollar, to tens of thousands of dollars.

The revelations come amid a review into Synergy after revelations from the Economic Regulation Authority of WA (ERAWA) the utility had overcharged disadvantaged

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